Glog

I put in a search for "why can't I stop eating?" and got a hit on your glog. I can so totally relate to what you are saying and I am so sick and tired of fighting these cravings? Why can't I be like "normal" people and just eat supper and go on with life instead of eating and eating and eating?

the more i don't want to eat, the more i eat. even if im not hungry. then i justify it by saying well i won't eat later, then i eat later

i have good days and bad days. Mostly bad and the good aren't really that good. I just can't seem to stop turning to food. As soon as I am alone, I search for food to stuff my face with. I'm sure I'd be a psychiatrist's field day. Why is eating so much easier than feeling? Even when I feel good I feel bad. I pray for self-control. I feel helpless.

What is this site for? It seems like it could be good for on-line support. Are there any others struggling with eating too much out there?

I know exactly how you all feel. I feel like crap everyday and everyday I feel like I eat more and more. Why can't I stop?????

Is there somewhere to chat on line about this with any of you? I'm don't know much about how to chat on line. Is there someone who is willing to keep communicating, even on this site? I'm keen to chat. I have a few ideas about us eating too much that I'd like to discuss with someone.

I'm keen to chat also and this seems a fairly safe place to start. Anyone else?

i know exactly what everyones saying, when im bored i just doddle about the kitchen and eat random things until i feel disgusting and vow to not eat later then i just eat more in an hour or so..

I, like all of you, am drowning in a sea of food. If I feel bad, I eat. If I feel good, I eat. If I don't feel anything, I eat. I eat especially when I'm bored - which is a lot of the time. I think I need tons of stuff to do so that I don't have time to eat. Like, maybe I'll sell my washer, dryer, dishwasher, etc. so that I have to do all those things by hand. I would be too tired to eat. Anyone have Yahoo! Messenger? I'm ualr_schnizzit if anyone wants to chat.

There has to be more to life than this? I know there is? Has anyone tried asking Jesus for help yet. How desparate are we? I feel defeated. I can't stop this on my own. Any suggestions? My feeling is that there is a spiritual deficit that my cognitves just can't override.

I think the real key to learn to stop binge eating is always remember that a new day is rising fast. If you don't eat anything except breakfast lunch and dinner you will survive...and be extremely happy the next morning. Trust me, it may seem like your problem is out of control, but if you just stop your bad habits for a day or two, they start to become good habits. ALL IT TAKES IS ONE DAY TO START YOU OFF.

I just wanted to let everyone out there know that they are not alone on this one.

I to, go through periods of un-controllable eating binges. It starts with the first meal of the day. I stuff my face and when I am done eating I feel un-believably full, yet still want to eat something else. This goes on all day. Chocolate, peanuts. Ice Cream... I still want more. I eat everyone's leftovers, but I am still hungry.

Now, I do workout almost everyday and am not over weight, yet I do not like the feeling of being out of control. I need help and can't seem to find the answer to my problem.

I just don’t know what’s wrong with me, what’s bothering me. I want to eat, eat, eat. Its so crazy already. I hate myself for losing complete control, over and over again. Day after day. Something is wrong and I don’t know what it is. Just guessing that it’s because I have ‘given’ it to God. Now it’s like there is this crazy thing going on. Till lately the reason why I wanted to lose weight was to be more sexually attractive. Not a good thing for me. I have finally got to the place where I want to lose the weight to honor God. To quit abusing my body with food. Also so that I can be there for my daughter, granddaughter , niece and nephew. But even tho’ my motives are better now I feel more desperate to eat. It could be anger as well. I feel angry and its a weird anger. It really feels like a form of suicide to me. it feels like something inside me wants to destroy me, with food. I just know its something I feel quite powerless in. I feel like I am blowing up like a blow fish. It's feeling like I just don't care. Maybe its depression. It could be that as well.

TILLY! TILLY! I hear you. Thankyou so much for your wonderful honesty. I really mean this. My name is Penny and I have contributed to this site a couple of times. To all you gorgeous people who have added there experience to this page I have soemthing to ask you all which I would love an honest answer to. I have just entered into therapy for what I know is Binge Eating Disorder and Bulimia. I wouldn't say all of you guys have this but we are all struggling with strikingly similar symptoms. So far the Therapy is amazing and the woman who I am so blessed to have caring for me is incredible. It occurred to me that I might keep an on-line record of my progress, insights and revelations during this therapy that may in turn help you all in some way. Do any of you think this is a good idea? I am thinking of creating a detailed web page and would appreciate your input. God bless you, and please know, what you are doing to yourself only need be temporary. I know that I know that I know, there is hope.
Penny.

Wow! I know exactly how you all feel. I can't beleive how close everything everyone is saying is to how i feel. I feel like i have lost control. I gain and lose weight every other day and I'm tired of the swings. I just want to get to a nice weight and stay that way and not have to worry about it anymore. I am going to try to find an image of the body i would like, and keep it in my head at all times. And before i eat i will rememeber it , and how i feel when i have done well on a diet and haven't over eaten. Maybe this will work for some of you guys. By the way I really think it would be a great idea for you penny to keep a record of your progress and revelations!
-Brittney

Thanks for your support Brittney. I think I am the only regular visitor to this page, so I will certainly have to create my own. I check this page every few days and I am hoping for some more support and some ideas also. This page kind of feels like it might be the same as the first night of alcoholics anonymous, only we are all saying in our own way, Hi, my name is ... and I can't stop eating. Is anyone out there really having true knowledge of their problem? Is anyone at the stage of accepting that this is a real issue in your lives that needs to be acknowledged and confronted before it can be defeated? This is crucial to our recovery.

I know i am deffinetely in the stage of accepting that I have a problem. But I dont really where to go from here, or how to go about confronting, and defeating the situation. If anyone has any advice, Id be glad to hear it.

Watch this space Brittney. You have done so well in admitting this is too hard to overcome alone. That is the first step. Well done. Truly, you may not know how significant this is to your recovery but let me tell you, it is paramount. Once it is out in the open, a huge barrier has been lifted. I'm guessing Brittney, and anyone in this same situation, have so far been great at hiding the details of their problem. We get so good at pretending it doesn't exist until after we have stuffed our faces. Then that cycle of guilt starts and frustration that this has occurred again, when we said before so many times, we would never do it again. I have battled for about 17 years,(Scary) with this and it has taken me that long to accept that I can't fix it on my own. The next Step is, Brittney, to seek professional help. It's another hard thing to do, but if we are honest with ourselves, it is necessary. It may take a while to muster the courage, but that's OK, as long as the desire to seek help remains. Can I encourage you Brittney to tell somebody? Your options are, a Doctor (for referral to an eating disorder specialist. Yes it is an eating disorder.) A Community Health Centre Counsellor. (They are usually free in Australia.) Or Contact any Eating Disorders Association (see internet for nearest) or another option is a group called Overeaters Anonymous. Or you can stay tuned to this site for more info. Good Luck. You have done a great thing in admitting that this is so difficult. I apologise if this sounds Bold, Brittney, but I beleive in you. You have courage and I know this because I know how much pressure carrying this burden really is. God Bless.

Looking back on my life I have always had an eating problem as long as I can remember.I am 23 and weigh 170 and have never been this much overweight. I don't know what to do or how to stop, but I do know that if I don't I am just going to keep getting bigger. I just want to be at a healthy weight and stay there. I think that I eat so much because of bad things that happened to me when I was younger. I don't know why I do this to myself because I always feel like crap.But it's like I need it like it's some kind of addiction, and it's been going on for so long I just don't know how to stop it! And it's not like I am lazy I exercise regularly. And it's weird that most people I know maybe eat to much sweets or something, but with me it's everything. I had 4 wisdom teeth removed a few weeks ago and after I couldn't eat solids for a week well I dropped 15 lbs and felt great for the first time in my life.It was such an amazing feeling you'd think I would wan't to hold on to it forever. But I couldn't because the food always takes over. If anyone out there can help or has any advise to give me I am all ears and would greatly appreciate it thanks so much for listening.
cara
caracarebear@hotmail.com

Cara, you have such insight. I am Penny, the one who has so far written the most on this site. I am so keen to see these eating problems overcome by all of us. You have been so honest and you seem to have a grasp on how this problem came about for you. I hope you glog back on to this site. I haven't yet received much suport for my idea of tracking my counselling on a web page. What do you think? (please see letters prior to yours.) How keen are you to find the root of this issue and dig it out? It means we have to learn a whole new way of dealing with things too? Are you willing to maybe just go one step further?

Brittney, Tilly, are you out there?

I seriously can not stop eating. I have battled with my weight my entire life. I was chubby as a child, and eventually grew out of it by my early teens, but I live in fear of gaining weight and being chubby again. I exercise religiously, usually 7 days a week, 1-4 hours a day. I am not overweight, but am at the high end for my height. I like to eat healthy, and used to be able to live off of an iced coffee and a handful of pretzels for an entire day. Now, I can not stop eating. Even if I do good all day, as soon as I get in bed (and once my boyfriend is asleep) I creep back down to the kitchen and stuff my face with enough food for an army. It is a wonder I am not seriously obese. But I hate feeling so stuffed all of the time, and don't know how to stop. Any suggestions, besides professional help? Thanks for any advice.

Some people have difficulty meeting life's problems; they avoid working on them and food becomes a drug used for avoiding problems. In order to be free from eating problems it is necessary to face the feelings which arise. When this is done it will be noticed gradually that the feelings are not unbearable and constructive solutions can be found. You can't get to the solution if you stay in the problem. Don't let the problem control you, control the problem. Tell yourself before overeating that you will stop and do it - STOP. Pause... be conscious that you are heading toward a binge. At first it will feel very weird and you will crave food, second time better and the third better on and on until you break the habit and back in control. There is no other way. Believe in yourself - stay committed to yourself - keep going even if you fall off just get back on it. If you feel panic about work - do the work so the panic is not fed but resolved. Force yourself to face the urge to stuff your face and eventually the urge will fade away. Go for it! Be real and stop feeding the problem.

Nicole,
Thanks for your advice. But if you see into what these people are writing, it is way way bigger than your neat little answer. If you have overcome it this way, good on you, but we are all coming from different places and most of the people on this site are in their own way and own time, facing the fact that they can't defeat it by themselves. Nice advice but we don't all fit into your box and in fact by assuming that we all can do it on our own, you are feeding the problem of people feeling like failures when they can't. Thus perpetuating the cycle of failure / eating / failure. There is help out there, everyone. It is a hard battle on your own but remember there are always limitations on our own knowledge and there will be a professional out there that can help. There is no shame in seeking help. Would you encourage a friend with this problem to seek professional help? Of course? Then be a friend to yourself.

I found this site, also, by googling, "Help! I can't stop eating!" I feel very bloated right now. I have been overweight since I was married some 28 years ago. About 3 years ago I lost a significant amount of weight. Felt better, had compliments like crazy. Sure enough I am back at my all time high-242 lbs on a 5'6" frame. I am so discouraged. When I lost the weight before, I also felt so panicked that I would purge sometimes when I overate. I know the weight itself isn't the issue as much as it is this terrible compulsion to stuff and stuff and stuff myself. When I gained it all back I started the nighttime eating. I'd get out of bed and stuff myself with cookies. I'd never really done that before. I know intellectually that it has to do with covering my feelings but I don't really understand that on some level. I feel like I just like to eat and that I love food. But I know that can't be the reason. I do know I am so worn out and sick of this, though. I think I may go to a doctor next week but I am miles away from any type of eating disorder clinic. My husband thinks its just like, "Well, stop eating." I wish it were so! I am at rock bottom AGAIN!

Overeating and stressing over the overeating is a real struggle and can become a way of life. I think we have made food into a moral issue. I mean we obsess over it and then fail to control it. I too have an uncontrollable urge to stuff my face. I mean food is a real friend to me. Giving it up is like giving up love. I know though that the first step is to stop giving the food such importance and meaning. Try and focus on a set of daily objectives and not the food avoidance or the food obsession. Daily objectives for me are: Giving my son attention, doing my exercises, eating healthy by eating vegetables and fruits instead of processed or sugary foods, keeping my house neat - removing a little clutter every day, meeting my work deadlines, maintaining friendships. I measure myself according to these objectives not by food. It is a slow process to change thinking patterns. The brain gets into a pattern and can't get out - that is why behaviour modification is so important to break habits that are destructive or compulsive. No one is deliberately destructive but how we frame our actions is important. If you think you are a worthless person because you are fat or had a binge - modify that thought. You are eating to fill a void, or you are bored, or you love the feeling of eating. Set daily objectives and every night see if you can meet them. Slowly positive results will change behaviour.

Just found this site. I have 6 pieces of Gallo salami in my left hand and trying to type with my right. I've juggled the doctors and the dexadrine scripts all my life. This has helped me. Actually, I would be dead by now from obesity complications. Can't find a doctor now to give me any more and I've gained 35 lbs since Christmas. That's 10 pounds a month. I BELIEVE THAT EXTREME OVEREATING IS A BRAIN DISORDER; Otherwise, why would mind altering phycotropic drugs change the craving urges. I never had the so called, "FULL SIGNAL" " Stop Signal" that tells you when you are full.
Nicole-Get Real.

I do agree, Nicole, get real. But Donna, it's time to accept that the drugs aren't really helping you either. They are putting a bandaid over a deep spiritual wound that can only be healed with love. There is a Spiritual deficit that your cognitives cannot fill. It's time Ladies, to cry out to God. Accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, and allow God to do the things for you that He wants to. It's true, He loves you and He's real. It's time to shoot from the hip, so to speak. Admit that we can't do it alone. If anyone is ready to do this, just glog on and I will talk you through it. I'd be happy to.

I guess gastic bypass is the only get real solution to extreme obesity. Accepting Jesus - a lot of us are not Christian so that cannot be a solution for everyone. Accepting ourselves is the first step and then gradual lifesyle changes. The drug solutions are deadly and temporary. Surgery I think is probably the only way to really alter the body and then the behaviour falls into place. But it too expensive for most and there are complications.

You are surely right Nicole, a lot of us aren't Christian. It is only accepting Jesus that can make you such. It's not just about how we look. It's about being the way we were intended. I have tried everything (except surgery) and it has only been since I became a Christian that my life started to make sense to me. That my life got better and is still getting better beyond my wildest dreams. Honestly. It is only Jesus who can strip away all the pain that the world puts on us and bit by bit, God gets a chance to rebuild us the way we were meant to be. I suggest everyone try it if you are in despair, or not. You can always stop being a Christian if you don't like it. It is amazing that we we torture ourselves for years and years, puking into toilets, starving ourselves, fanatically exercising, taking drugs, having surgery, hating ourselves and lying to ourselves, fighting a never ending battle that wears us down and down. Yet we won't try asking God to come into our lives and heal us from the inside. Just ask any true Christian. It changes you life and they all recommend it.